At 11 months, the child already eats quite varied. His diet includes different types of vegetables, cereals, meat, fruits, dairy products. What is important for parents to know about the nutrition of a child of this age and how best to build a menu for such a baby?
Features of the diet
The volume of solid food in the baby's diet is already quite large, which makes it possible to minimize breastfeeding or formula feeding, but most pediatricians still do not advise weaning the baby from the mother's breast or excluding the adapted mixture from the toddler's menu. It is optimal to continue giving this food twice a day - immediately after waking up in the morning, and also before bedtime. The rest of the time, the child will eat solid food.
New products are practically not introduced at this age, so the main attention of parents should be directed to the already existing dishes in the baby's diet. Experiments with flavors and combinations are encouraged. For example, you can make a casserole from cottage cheese, fruits and eggs for an 11-month-old baby, and instead of juice, you can offer jelly to the crumb.
An eleven month old can also be offered raw fruits and vegetables. For example, you can grate a carrot and an apple, add a little sour cream to them and feed your baby with such a very vitamin dish.
Diet and how much a child should eat at 11 months
At 11 months, five meals a day are preserved, while twice a day it is advised to give the baby breast milk or a mixture that can be either adapted or fermented. The intervals between feedings at this age are three to four hours. For example, a breastfed baby eats mother's breast at 7 o'clock for the first time, then at 10 o'clock he has breakfast, at 14 o'clock - lunch time, at 18 o'clock the penultimate feeding, and at 22 o'clock - the last (mother's milk).
The total amount of food eaten by a child per day is calculated based on the baby's body weight. The weight of the crumbs is divided by 9 and receives the amount of food per day. Most babies weigh 10 kg at 11 months, so the approximate daily food intake is 1100-1250 grams. It is divided by the number of meals and the average amount of food for one feeding is found out - 220-250 g.
As for individual complementary foods, the following maximum amounts per day are recommended for a child at the age of 11 months:
Sample menu
When breastfeeding
For a breastfed baby, the daily menu at 11 months will look something like this:
With artificial feeding
A bottle-fed baby at 11 months will eat something like this:
Tips
Despite the significant expansion of the menu, children at the age of 11 months should not be given fried foods, smoked meats, exotic fruits, fatty meat, fermented milk products not intended for baby food, fatty fish, nuts and many other products. Before giving any dish to a crumb, always think about the benefits and safety of this product for the child's body.
Consider the following guidelines:
- Prepare fresh food for your child every day, and if you are using prepared food for children, make sure that the expiration dates are correct. To make life easier, you can start preparing homemade semi-finished products for baby food. For example, one day you can make portioned fish or meat cakes for your baby, freeze them, and in the future take one portion from the freezer and boil or steam the cutlet, which will take less time.
- As often as possible, give the baby a spoon in his hands and teach the baby to eat on his own, without worrying that the result will be spilled soup or mashed potatoes on the floor. Drink from a mug or glass, but only under the supervision of an adult.
Your child already knows so much, and his activity makes you think about the introduction of vitamins at 11 months. Whether it is worth doing, read another article.
